So Many Fish, So Little Time 1

Over the last two weeks I have been blessed with great opportunities out on the water and taken advantage of every one of them. I have fished in SE Alaska for salmon, fished aboard the Rampage for halibut and ling, flyfished the Yakima, and bass fished with Marc Marcantonio.

 Two weeks ago, I made the rounds in Se Alaska as part of my business with Griffin Maclean Insurance.  One of the contractors that we insure in Wrangell, Johnson Construction, set me up with the two guys that know how to get it done in Wrangell.  Harley had been telling me for quite some time about Steve and Jack Yurata and their expertise on the water and although it was still a little early in the spring, Steve and Jack were able to put me on a couple of fish and provide me with a wealth of learning opportunites.  You know when you are on the boat with good fisherman and when you are it is always a good thing to pick their brains and get as much from them as they will give you.  I peppered them with questions and even talked Jack in to shooting a video for me.  One of the other things that really impressed me about Jack and Steve was their attention to detail.  They were constantly analyzing what was going on with everything from reading water, to troll speed, depth, gear, technique, and making changes accordingly.  I have to say that they certainly have the program dialed as we were the only boat to hit the dock with fresh salmon that day.

The Costa sunglasses saved me as it turned out to be a nice sunny day in SE Alaska.

Upon returning from Alaska, I only had a few days before it was off to Westport  to fish aboard the Rampage.  This trip turned out just like last year when a windy rough morning gave way to a beautiful day and limits of halibut for everyone on the boat.  I even did a first for me and caught a ling and halibut on the same drop.   for more on that adventure check out Nelly's blog.

 After the halibut adventure it was time to change gears and get the waders on as I was heading over to Canyon River Ranch to fish with the great guides out of Red's Fly Shop.  This trip was part of an auction item throught the Seahawks for the Chilhaven auction.  Although I had virtually no flyfishing experience I was part of the item that was donated by Steve Joyce at Red's.  One of my new friends, guy Conversano, bought the item at auction and set it all up.  I have to admit that I was a little worried as I knew that most of the guys I was fishing with were great fly anglers and I did not want to slow them down.  It turns out that my worry was for nothing.  I fished the morning with Steve Joyce and he gave me some lessons and had me feeling like a pro after a short time. 

Is this how fly fisherman always eat?  I could get used to this.

After lunch I jumped in the boat with Red's guide Troy Lichttenegger.  Troy was every bit as helpful as Steve and put me on my biggest two fish of the day.  I still can't believe the fight that these trout have and the show that they put on is incredible.  All in all, everyone caught fish and had a great time, flyfishing down the Yakima is definitley something that I will be doing again.

My last trip of the week was a day out on Lake Washington with Marc Marcantonio.  Having the opportunity to fish with a pro like Marc will help me take my bass game to the next level.  Now all I need to do is convince my wife that I need a third boat.

Marc puts another nice bass in the boat to complete his limit.